Packers fans and dignitaries rally in Arlington
ARLINGTON -- Everyone say cheese!
Packers fans assembled at J. Gilligan's Bar & Grill on Saturday for the official pregame pep rally for Super Bowl XLV. The bar, stage area and parking lot were a sea of green and gold as visitors let loose on a sunny, 55-degree day after a week of ice, snow and cold that was a little too much like home.
Vendors sold cheeseheads and cheese cowboy hats, cheese baseball caps and cheese fedoras, as well as apparel and merchandise.
Susan Lombardi, daughter of the legendary Green Bay coach, greeted fans and posed for photos. She wore her father's first championship ring on a chain around her neck, "so it is close to my heart," she said.
"We're going to bring that trophy home where it belongs," Lombardi said of the Super Bowl trophy, named after her father.
Dignitaries included Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt, both dressed in Packer gear and as exuberant as any of the fans.
Schmitt took the stage at about 2:45 p.m. to officially greet the revelers. "I started wearing my cowboy boots three weeks ago," he said, "because I knew we'd be here this week. It's a dream come true."
He removed his Packers Windbreaker to model a No. 12 Aaron Rodgers jersey that the quarterback had autographed for him.
Walker, who arrived Saturday, said he hopes the frigid weather this week was an omen.
"It snowed when we got to Atlanta for the playoff game," he said of the Packers' victory over the Falcons.
Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck also made an appearance, throwing his support to the Packers. "Green Bay by about 14 points," he said.
The real stars, however, were the fans, some of whom risked life and limb to reach North Texas.
Jim Marx, his wife, Sharon, and friends Vicki Sumwalt and Wendy Gilbert drove 1,206 miles from Appleton, Wis. They left Thursday. "We just got here," Marx said.
"It was OK until we got to Tulsa," he said. "We saw three snowplows upside-down in a ditch, and cars and semis on the side of the road. We thought about turning around, but we're real die-hard fans."
With 250 miles to go, they stayed overnight in Tulsa, then braved treacherous roads to reach North Texas.
"We don't even have tickets," he said. "We came to party."
Neil Breitkreutz and Karen Dineen live in northwest Arkansas but are originally from Wisconsin. They know snow and ice.
But it took seven hours instead of five to drive to North Texas, and there were some white-knuckle moments traversing roads with 21/2 inches of ice.
"I told Neil, 'The road to the Super Bowl is not easy,'" Dineen said.
The Packers are a community-owned team, and in a small city that was anointed Titletown because of Lombardi's success, they are close-knit and filled with pride.
Lynne Prucha of Two Rivers, Wis., would have won the Lady GaGa red carpet award. The hairstylist had on a green wig, green ski leggings, a Packers jumper, and gold-painted clogs and fingernails.
"I have 52 [linebacker Clay Matthews' number] on my butt," she said, which she revealed to a TV camera crew.
She also said she has a cheese bra in her hotel room. "It's one of the last," she said. "They've been discontinued."
The lingerie bowl would never be the same.
Pete Alfano, 817-390-7985
This story was originally published February 5, 2011 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Packers fans and dignitaries rally in Arlington."